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Malvo lawyers lose ruling on execution

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA — International laws and treaties do not prohibit Virginia from executing juveniles, a judge ruled Wednesday in the case against teenage sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo.

Defense lawyers had argued that an overwhelming consensus of foreign nations and certain international treaties combined to bar the execution of people who were younger than 18 at the time of their crime.

Prosecutors rejected the argument. Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush agreed, saying, "It may at some point be the law of the land. Right now it's not."